Course of Love: A Story in Drabbles
by twist3dl0gic
Summary: "Please dance with me," she whispers, pulling her boyfriend close to her and gently swaying her hips on the private dance floor of their shared bedroom.


**Notes:** This was written for the "1sentence" community on Livejournal, in which you write one sentence for each theme in a list of fifty. What follows is the course of Draco's and Ginny's relationship after she's broken things off with Harry. The story follows the books, with the exception of the epilogue. And it's more cohesive than it is fifty independent drabbles.

**#01 - Ring:** Harry Potter presents her a tiny, velvet box; inside is a gold band with a pear-shaped diamond, and Ginny Weasley tears up knowing that she has to say, "No."

**#02 - Hero:** The split makes headlines, and Draco Malfoy smirks to himself, pleased that the hero doesn't always get the girl.

**#03 - Memory:** The next time they bump into each other in Diagon Alley, he's a git and reminds the redhead about how she broke Potter's heart.

**#04 - Box:** "Typical Malfoy," she sneers, "'arse' must be your default setting," and he can see that to her, he'll always be confined to his teenaged self.

**#05 - Run:** When Ginny sees Draco at a Quidditch match, she tries her best to avoid him and turns to walk directly in the opposite direction of where he is.

**#06 - Hurricane:** But like a bad storm, encountering him is unavoidable; he's always in her path, and like that bad storm, he's always vengeful and destructive.

**#07 - Wings:** She wishes she could just fly away and get the hell out of there, but Draco finds and traps her.

**#08 - Cold:** "There's my favorite maneater - break any hearts lately?"

**#09 - Red:** Ginny blushes Gryffindor red, which satisfies the wizard greatly.

**#10 - Drink:** It's about a month later, and they've both stopped in at The Leaky Cauldron for a drink; mostly out of curiosity, Draco invites Ginny to join him and picks up the tab.

**#11 - Midnight:** The clock strikes twelve, and in a drunken stupor, she picks herself up off the barstool and heads to the door, claiming she needs to get to bed.

**#12 - Temptation:** It's something sort of like chivalry that Draco insists on walking Ginny home; she stumbles, and he catches her, and there's an alcohol veil between him and the world that turns his drinking mate into something beautiful.

**#13 - View:** Surprisingly, when he sees her again, Ginny still looks slightly stunning, with her hair a tousled mess and her lips pouting and a Slytherin green dress hugging her tightly.

**#14 - Music:** He asks her to dance at the gala held to remember the beloved, late Albus Dumbledore; she's unsure of his motivations but accepts regardless.

**#15 - Silk:** After their dance, Draco guides her off the dance floor with his hand on her back, and the heat soaks through her dress, warming her skin; the smooth fabric feels pleasant to the both of them.

**#17 - Promise:** Somewhere on the grounds beneath the stars and surrounded by flowers, Ginny makes Draco swear he's not just playing a cruel trick; he does, and the reward is great.

**#18 - Dream:** In bed that night, he recalls the way she felt pressed against him, how she tasted, how her tongue darted at his lips before his own ever left his mouth.

**#19 - Candle:** Ginny never would have taken Draco for a romantic, but by candlelight, they strip each other naked and come together for the first time.

**#20 - Talent:** His tongue moves slowly at first, then she starts to feel _good_ - like all her nerves are connected and she can't catch her breath - and with the skillful ease of natural ability, he picks up the pace until her insides explode and she has to beg him to stop.

**#21 - Silence:** After, there's just quiet, and he holds Ginny while gently pressing his lips to her temple.

**#22 - Journey:** Had Merlin himself prophesized that they'd end up together, Draco would have nearly died from some combination of humiliation, laughter, and disbelief; yet, reflecting on these past few months, their relationship seemed like the most obvious conclusion based on their past.

**#23 - Fire:** Like a true redhead, Ginny was volatile and quick tempered, but that also made her extremely compassionate, and a smart match for someone like Draco who needed patience and a little understanding.

**#24 - Strength:** She took the criticisms from her family with a cool grace he couldn't fathom; if he had to tell his parents, he'd… well, he'd never tell his parents.

**#25 - Mask:** Thankfully, they'd been locked away for wearing the mark of the Dark Lord and the matching cloaks and masks.

**#26 - Ice:** His cold exterior was a type of mask all on its own, but he liked the cliché that Ginny was fire and he was ice and that somehow meant they completed one another.

**#27 - Fall:** The seasons changed, and he remembered how about a year ago, they were just starting to see each other.

**#28 - Forgotten:** And now, he had some trite new lease on life (he grimaced at the thought, _bloody stupid sentimental load of crap_) - his old life was a distant memory gladly left behind.

**#29 - Dance:** "Please dance with me," she whispers, pulling her boyfriend close to her and gently swaying her hips on the private dance floor of their shared bedroom.

**#30 - Body:** She doesn't wait for him to pull her body close to his, she just presses up against him and drapes her arms around his neck.

**#31 - Sacred:** This place of theirs is sacred: it's the place where they love, laugh, cry, argue, hold each other, play, dance… it's where magic happens.

**#32 - Farewells:** Draco knows Ginny has to go away - she needs to spend time with Charlie after he almost died dealing with an extremely temperamental Catalonian Fireball - but she's not the only one who wants to cry when they say their goodbyes.

**#33 - World:** She's half way around the world, sleeping in a tent on a cot, and she keeps turning on her side hoping to find his torso to snuggle up against.

**#34 - Formal:** "You're living with him, and he didn't even bother to ask my permission," Charlie teases, and Ginny gets the joke, but she could never imagine Draco Malfoy observing such formalities.

**#35 - Fever:** When she gets home, she's still sweaty even though London is much cooler than the middle east, and she's tired from more than just the travel; Draco worries a bit and sends her to bed.

**#36 - Laugh:** She stays there for three days, causing a level of worry that rivals her mum's and a subsequent chuckle at how soft he's gone.

**#37 - Lies:** "I haven't gone soft," he insists, getting a bit touchy, then dramatically proclaims, "you're near death."

**#38 - Forever:** "What are you worried about, you're stuck with me forever, git."

**#39 - Overwhelmed:** There's something joking about her tone, but he only hears the words and isn't scared by a permanent relationship, more relieved, and extremely thankful.

**#40 - Whisper:** "You think we could last forever?" he whispers in bed, her naked body resting on his; she smiles sweetly and asks, "is that a proposal?"

**#41 - Wait:** They hold off on telling Gin's brothers until Draco can bribe them into liking him; as it turns out, it's not the easiest task, even with all the galleons in the world.

**#42 - Talk:** "You better not be toying with my daughter," Arthur Weasley says sternly after hearing news of the engagement.

**#43 - Search:** Harry mostly just sulks, pondering what Malfoy had that he didn't.

**#44 - Hope:** The Azkaban guards are buzzing with the latest gossip about the clandestine couple's pending nuptials; Lucius Malfoy can't believe what he hears and hopes that a misunderstanding has occurred.

**#45 - Eclipse:** She worries (needlessly) that she's ugly, and Fleur will be the star of the ceremony, and why did Bill have to make someone so pretty her sister-in-law, anyway?

**#46 - Gravity:** Draco feels something pulling down on his stomach all morning; it's worse than flip flops, and it's not nerves, but it's certainly unnerving.

**#47 - Highway:** He doesn't need to wonder if they'll make it, if the road they're on will be a rough one: he knows it will be a hell of a time, but he'll love every minute of it.

**#48 - Unknown:** Ginny is a little less sure, because she has no way of knowing what's to come.

**#49 - Lock:** She figures Draco is unpredictable, and he could get bored with her or find someone else more attractive, and she didn't know if even a ceremonial binding could keep them together.

**#50 - Breathe:** As she walks toward the alter, she forgets to breathe, her heart beats fast, and her legs might crumble, but as she walks toward her soon-to-be husband, Ginny is suddenly more certain of this than she has ever been about anything.


End file.
